Four families filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday against the U.S. government over the Red Hill water crisis that impacted thousands and sickened hundreds. The filing in U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii truly speaks to the horrors families have experienced in the wake of around 20,000 gallons of fuel leaking from the Red Hill storage tanks at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Since a May 2021 spill and the more recent Nov. 20, 2021 spill, the Navy has vowed to defuel the tanks but the damage has already been done. Even the Navy’s own reports have led to distrust among the community, members of whom are fighting back with this lawsuit.
“When four-year old I.W. has to explain what happened to her, why the ‘butterfly’ in her neck is swollen, and her hair falls out, and the blood draws make her cry, she tells them, ‘It’s because I drank the bad water,’” The lawsuit begins. “It’s the same reason that pain radiates up and down Patrick Feindt’s abdomen and flank as the former professional golfer heads in for a surgery, five medical procedures down. It’s the same reason Nastasia Freeman spent her family savings to get off the island but still experiences multiple seizures a day that leaves her waking up with her mouth bloody and her mind blank. It’s the same reason Jamie Simic weighs less than 98 pounds and tells her children the things they need to know when she passes. They all drank the bad water.”
Patrick Feindt, Jr., et al., v. The United States of America by Daily Kos on Scribd
The lawsuit filed by attorneys with Just Well Law and the Hosoda Law Group is probably one of the most devastating I’ve read in covering this crisis, and the trauma described by the families who shared their stories with this legal filing will likely only grow as more families aim to hold the U.S. accountable. Per the filing, “there are hundreds of additional claims in the administrative process of the Federal Tort Claims Act, including civilians. Every person who ingested water contaminated by Red Hill was harmed in some capacity by the negligence of the United States.”
As the lawsuit states, service members cannot sue the federal government. But under the Federal Tort Claims Act, any civilians who have experienced “personal injury, death, or property loss or damage caused by the negligent or wrongful act or omission of an employee of the federal government” can use this legal mechanism to hold the U.S. accountable.
One of the lawyers representing these four families told the Honolulu Civil-Beat that, despite the restrictions, dozens have filed claims against the Navy and expect to file similar lawsuits. The case known as Patrick Feindt, Jr., et al., v. The United States of America marks the first time that families affected by the Red Hill crisis are seeking legal action. Other lawsuits have been filed in protest of the Navy’s blatant negligence and man-made disaster, but none speak so explicitly to the ongoing harm still impacting Honolulu residents.